This little journal/ledger contained a five-page account of the May 24, 1856, killings on Pottawatomie Creek, apparently written by James Hanway shortly after the incident. He mentioned the five victims by name and wrote: "The settlement is plunged into a perfect commotion. A meeting of the settlers was held on the 26th and they mutually agreed to protect each other from foreign or internal foes. All men of real good sense, condemned these midnight assassinations and also the killing of men who are attending to their concerns". This was a somewhat different perspective of the situation than expressed by Hanway in his 1860 letter to James Redpath. Nevertheless, the responsibility for "all such blood tragedies" is with the pro-slave men.